International delegation takes CCUS tour of Western Canada

International delegates tour new BC Research technology development centre.

An international delegation with experts from Norway, Germany and Ireland toured carbon capture, storage and conversion sites in Western Canada in February.

Delegates on the tour, led by Canadian Ambassador to Norway Artur Wilczynsk, had the option of visiting several sites in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Regina to learn more about CCUS initiatives.

In Vancouver, NORAM’s new BC Research Inc. facility was the venue for a ground-breaking meeting – hosted by the Carbon Capture and Conversion Institute (CCCI) – between a European delegation and representatives of the Government of Canada, academia and local industry. Delegates toured the new BC Research facility, in which the CCCI is co-located, and received presentations from Gassnova, CCCI and local technology companies active in CO2 capture and product valorization. These included the University of B.C., Inventys, Carbon Engineering, Mantra Energy, CarbonCure and BC Research.

Goran Vlajnic addresses visitors on Western Canada CCUS tour.

The meeting, which included the Norwegian state enterprise for carbon capture & storage, Gassnova, and the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum & Energy, set the stage for multi-lateral exchange and cooperation in the nascent, but fast-growing CO2-utilization economy. The CCCI innovation hub is a collaborative initiative between BC Research, CMC Research Institutes and UBC, aimed at solving the complex challenges of reducing industry’s carbon footprint.

In Calgary, CMC Research Institutes organized a round table featuring a number of speakers including Brian Mellor, Managing Director of CMCRI, and Kirk Osadetz, Programs Development Manager for the Containment and Monitoring Institute, Marcius Extavour, Director of Technical Operations, NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, and others. Visitors also had the option of touring a demonstration site for a technology developed by CleanO2, and Burnco Rock Products which has installed technology by CarbonCure.